Jewish group plans pro-Israel rally ahead of Paris football match
Jewish group plans pro-Israel rally ahead of Paris football match
Right-wing Jewish movement Betar said it would rally in Paris against anti-Semitism ahead of a Nations League football match on Thursday between France and Israel that authorities have identified as a potential flashpoint.
A high police presence is being prepared for the match at the Stade de France. It will take place exactly a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam following a game between Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch team Ajax.
Israeli, Dutch and European leaders condemned the "anti-Semitic" clashes in Amsterdam which left about two dozen people injured.
Yigal Brand, CEO of World Betar, said in a statement on Sunday that the movement, which is present worldwide and has links to the Israeli right, was "outraged at what has happened in Amsterdam".
"We are proud Zionists and have nothing to apologise for," Brand added in a statement.
He called on group members and supporters to "gather Wednesday in Paris and Thursday at the soccer game, which is also being threatened".
The statement also said Betar and the French Jewish student movement MEJF will host Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Paris on Wednesday.
Betar, a pro-Israel youth movement, plans to gather alongside the MEJF on the sidelines of the "Israel Is Forever" gala, an event in support of Israel organised by far-right individuals.
Several associations, unions and French leftist parties had denounced the gala, and in particular Smotrich's planned appearance.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez described the upcoming France-Israel match as high risk and revealed that 4,000 gendarmes would be deployed around the stadium, on public transport and across the French capital.
Israeli authorities had warned fans against attending a Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball match in the Italian city of Bologna on Friday, which ended without incident.
Following the violence in Amsterdam, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the Mossad spy agency to draw up a plan to prevent unrest at events abroad.
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This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
